Iconic Yellowstone Wolf Shot Dead in Legal But 'Senseless Killing'

A cherished Lamar Valley wolf known as 926F was shot dead after a legal hunt just five miles outside the sanctuary of
Yellowstone National Park, prompting calls from advocacy groups for greater protection of the region's wolves.

Montana wildlife officials confirmed to the Jackson Hole Daily that the kill on Saturday was state-sanctioned, as it was outside Yellowstone's boundaries.

"It was a legal harvest, and everything was legitimate about the way the wolf was taken," Abby Nelson, a wolf management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, told the publication. "The circumstances are obviously a little bit harder for people to stomach, because that pack had showed signs of habituation."

As detailed by
Buckrail, 926F's lineage can be tracked back five generations to Yellowstone's original transplanted wolves from Alberta, Canada. Gray wolves had been hunted eradication by the end of the 1920s. Many decades later, biologists reintroduced the first eight wolves to the park in January 1995, including 926F's great, great grandparents alphas 9F and 10M.

The wolves also bring an estimated $35 million in annual tourist revenue to the region, according to University of Montana researchers. Meanwhile, Montana
wolf hunting licenses cost $19 for residents and $50 for nonresidents.

"Perhaps Montana should take a closer look at the economics of wolf hunting. Seems that Yellowstone wolves are worth a lot more alive than dead," the conservation group noted.

Fans of 926F, also known as Spitfire, mourned the loss.

"We have all seen the outpouring of grief, rage and anger after the senseless killing of Wolf 926, which unfortunately was a legal kill," Wolves of the Rockies wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday. "It is now time to put that grief, rage and anger to work."

The group suggested contacting elected officials and attending meetings at Montana, Fish Wildlife and Parks to advocate for the animals.

"Let them know who you are and why wolves are important to you," the post states. "Remind them a balanced eco system is in the best interest of everyone."

Sixteen-year-old climate action leader Greta Thunberg stood alongside European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Thursday in Brussels as he indicated—after weeks of climate strikes around the world inspired by the Swedish teenager—that the European Union has heard the demands of young people and pledged more than $1 trillion over the next seven years to address the crisis of a rapidly heating planet.

In the financial period beginning in 2021, Juncker said, the EU will devote a quarter of its budget to solving the crisis.

A new study reveals the health risks posed by the making, use and disposal of plastics. Jeffrey Phelps / Getty Images

With eight million metric tons of plastic entering the world's oceans every year, there is growing concern about the proliferation of plastics in the environment. Despite this, surprisingly little is known about the full impact of plastic pollution on human health.

But a first-of-its-kind study released Tuesday sets out to change that. The study, Plastic & Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet, is especially groundbreaking because it looks at the health impacts of every stage in the life cycle of plastics, from the extraction of the fossil fuels that make them to their permanence in the environment. While previous studies have focused on particular products, manufacturing processes or moments in the creation and use of plastics, this study shows that plastics pose serious health risks at every stage in their production, use and disposal.